Underwater cleaning and scrubbing apparatus

ABSTRACT

A motor drives both a scrubbing brush and a propeller. Both rotate usually on the same shaft. The brush rotates against a surface to be cleaned and the propeller provides a thrust of the brush towards the surface. There is ample motion for scrubbing and cleaning combined with force to hold the brush firmly against the surface. A mechanically generated force against the surface is needed to remove debris, and when working underwater, such as against a boat hull, it is difficult to provide the force, since there is no ground on which to stand. The motor is electrical, or is pneumatic or hydraulic, with power brought in via flexible tubes, or power may come via flexible shaft. Manual controls may be underwater mounted on the unit or may transmit commands by electrical or radio signals to the above water power source.

BACK GROUND

[0001] Underwater surfaces pick up a variety of undesired plant andanimal growths, including barnacles. These growths slow down a boat,obscure viewing through aquarium windows, and cause water pollution.

[0002] Cleaning is most typically by mechanical scrubbing. Pressureagainst the surface plus scrubbing motion is needed. Pressure against anunderwater surface is sometime difficult because there is no convenientfloor to push against. Pushing from the dock side is awkward and isnecessarily done at the adverse end of a long lever arm.

[0003] There have been many efforts to make easy underwater cleaning ofboats, and cleaning of aquarium walls. Some have put brushes on longhandles, with a bend in the handle to adapt to boat hull curvature.Other efforts have been to use a flow of water through an impellerconnected to a rotating brush under water. This provides some of thenecessary scrubbing action. There is still a problem of applyingadequate pressure. There is a system in which the water squirts or jetsaway from the surface, applying pressure towards the surface. Oneproblem with this jet system is that, as the brush is moved to lowerdepths, perhaps four to ten feet down, the ambient water pressureincreases, and there is back pressure, so that the brush rotates moreslowly and the reactive water flow squirt pressure is reduced,frequently rendering the system unsatisfactory. Another way to getpressure towards the surface is to use venturi suction against thesurface, but this is also unsatisfactory owing to the back pressureincreasing with depth.

PRIOR ART

[0004] 1. application Ser. No. 09/659,407 by Charles Walton, for pondsurfaces cleaning.

[0005] 2. Patent references:

[0006] There were 19 patents associated with the above application.

[0007] Many show a rotating brush. None show a propeller system toprovide pressure to bring together the surface and the rotating ormoving brush.

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

[0008] The subject system cleans underwater objects such as the bottomsof boats and the sides of aquariums. There is a rotating brush, poweredby a motor. There is also a rotating propeller, which pushes the brushagainst the side of the boat. The push of the propeller is neededbecause the operator often does not have a surface against which topush.

[0009] A motor drives both a scrubbing brush and a propeller. Both mayrotate on the same shaft, or there may be an intervening gear box tooptimize the relative speeds of the two. The brush rotates against thesurface to be cleaned and the propeller provides a thrust of the brushtowards the surface. Force against the surface is needed because whenworking underwater, such as against a boat hull, there is no ground fromwhich to push. Tilting the apparatus slightly allows travel up or downor sideways against the surface. The motor may be mounted directly onthe brush or propeller shaft, or the motor may be mounted elsewhere anda drive shaft, rigid or flexible, brought from the motor to the workingbrush and propeller.

[0010] The motor in one form is electrical and capable of operatingunder water. It may be of the type used for electric propulsion of smallboats for fishing when doing what is known as trolling. The motor uses asafe low voltage, 12 volts or 24, so there is no shock hazard.

[0011] The motor may be deck mounted and drive through a flexible shaft.The motor may be powered by air, or powered by hydraulics. In aconvenient form, it is powered from a battery attached to the motor. Anoperator using the equipment underwater controls the motor brush andpropeller speed through controls on the motor assembly, or bycommunication by either wire or radio to the above water power source.The motion of the cleaning brush may be rotary, or may be linear, with areciprocating motion.

LIST OF FIGURES

[0012]FIG. 1 shows an electric motor, the brush, and the propeller,cooperating to press a moving brush against the surface to be cleaned. Aremote motor control is shown.

[0013]FIG. 2 shows the brush and propeller driven through an hydraulicmotor.

[0014]FIG. 3 shows the brush and propeller driven by a pneumatic motor.

[0015]FIG. 4 shows the brush and propeller driven from a flexible shaftfrom an above water level motor.

[0016]FIG. 5 shows the brush and propeller driven by a battery operatedelectric motor.

[0017]FIG. 6 shows a system for oscillating, not rotating, the brush, inside view.

[0018]FIG. 7 shows the oscillating system, in plan view

[0019]FIG. 8 show the propeller and scrubbing brush mounted at the sameend of the motor.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] Refer to FIG. 1. An overall assembly 10 is shown. There is oneexternal item, the surface 11 to be cleaned. There is a motor 12, withoutput shaft 14 at one end and output shaft 15 at the other end. Shaft15 drives a gear box 16 with an output shaft 18. Shaft 18 drivesrotating brush frame 20. Mounted on the brush frame are bristles 22.When in use, bristles 22 are brought against surface 11 to remoteunwanted material 24 and thus accomplish scrubbing and cleaning.

[0021] At the periphery of the brush there are two special notations orconventions. The circle with a dot in the middle represents an arrowwith the point approaching us, and the circle with a cross in the middlerepresents an arrow with the feather end leaving us. The two togethergive us the direction of rotation of the brush.

[0022] The bristles 22, also referred to as the abrasive coating, removefrom the surface 11 the unwanted material 24. The bristles 22 are chosenfirm enough to remove the unwanted material 24 yet soft enough to notscratch or damage the surface 11.

[0023] Connected to the shaft 14 is a propeller 26. As the shaftrotates, the propeller develops thrust 27. This thrust 27 pushes theassembly against the surface 11. The operator is not given the burden ofproviding thrust. There is an optional protection guard 28 and 28B inthe form of a short cylinder. Guard 28 also improves the water flowlines.

[0024] The assembly 10 is mounted on a supporting handle 30. Withinhandle 30 are power supply wires 31 to the motor 12 from power supplyunit 40. The power flow to motor 12 may be controlled by local buttonson unit 10, not shown. Power flow may be controlled by wire linkage, notshown, to source 40 or controlled from radio 42 and antenna 44 andantenna 46 and power control unit 48. Power source 40 may be a DC supplyderiving power from the mains or may be a storage battery.

[0025] The motor 12 may be of the type used in trolling, or of the typeused in battery operated electric drills If the latter, a water proofhousing is provided.

[0026] Refer next to FIG. 2. This implementation of system 10 uses ahydraulic motor 52 rather than an electric motor 12. The power supply isa hydraulic pump 42, feeding over tubes 32 to hydraulic motor 52. Allelse is the same as for FIG. 1.

[0027]FIG. 3 shows a pneumatic motor 62 version of the system 10. Thepower source 44 is a pneumatic pump, feeding through tubes 34 topneumatic motor 62

[0028]FIG. 4 show another means for getting power to the underwaterscrubbing system 10. A motor 48 is mounted on the dockside, and aflexible shaft 36 transfers rotary power to the gear assembly 72 whichin turn transmits power to the propeller 26 and brush 20. The result hasthe advantages of a lower weight scrubbing unit and a motor above thewaterline.

[0029]FIG. 5 shows a system in which a battery 84 is mounted adjoiningthe electric motor 82. The system is self contained and there is nolinkage to remote dock mounted equipment. It is practical, however, touse an electric power cable to the boat battery for a stiff source ofpower, readily rechargeable.

[0030]FIG. 6 shows a drive which causes an oscillating action back andforth to a rectangular (or pointy ended) brush 100, rather than arotating brush or scrubber 20. Some surfaces have a grain which favorsoscillating cleaning motion, rather than circular. Some boat ownersbelieve that brush cleaning lines in the direction of boat travel causeless water friction than cleaning lines from a rotating brush. In FIG.6, out of gear box 16 there is a crank arm 94, which couples through pin95 to reciprocating arm or rod 97, and to pin 98. Pin 98 is guided bystationary slot 99 shown in FIG. 7 and drives rectangular brush 100 backand forth.

[0031]FIG. 7 further explains this back and forth motion. Note that arm94 rotates and carries pin 95 which pushes reciprocating rod 97 and pin98. Pin 98 rides in stationary slot 99 and is connected to brush 100which then moves back and forth.

[0032]FIG. 8 shows the propeller 27 and brush 20 mounted at the same endof the shaft 17 protruding from motor 92. This configuration has theadvantage that there is only one rotating exit from the motor andtherefore only one, not two, water seals are required. The power cable39, or the flexible shaft 36, or tubes 32 or 34, may exit from the backend of the motor 92.

FEATURES AND VARIATIONS

[0033] 1. The propeller pushes debris away from the working areas, thusimproving visibility at the underwater work site.

[0034] 2. To obtain lateral motion across the surface, the unit needonly be tilted slightly, and a component of the motor force aids thislateral motion.

[0035] 3. To avoid tiring the operator with holding the weight of theunit, there are buoyancy tanks, not shown, allowing almost neutralweight. A positive buoyancy may be desirable, so that if the operatorloses his grip, the unit will float up, rather than sink. A tether isstill recommended.

[0036] 4. Not shown is a bag to collect the unwanted material.

[0037] 5. The air and hydraulic systems can be self contained, so thatthe driving fluid is returned to a remotely located pump. The hydraulicsystem may be charged with oil rather than water.

[0038] 6. The motor may be adapted from a standard battery operateddrill, by the addition of a waterproof housing. The waterproof housingwould have a transparent portion, so the user can readily check as towhether water has seeped into the motor compartment.

[0039] 7. Another form or shape of the brush, rather than a disc shapedbrush, is as a rotating cylinder.

[0040] 8. The apparatus may be mounted on the end of a lengthy pole,optionally curved to the contours of the hull, and the cleaning job donefrom dockside.

I claim:
 1. An underwater cleaning apparatus comprising a motor drivenbrush, and a motorized propeller, said brush having cleaningcapabilities against an underwater surface, and said propeller providingthrust of the brush against the underwater surface.
 2. An underwatercleaning apparatus as in claim 1 in which said motor is an underwaterelectric motor.
 3. An underwater cleaning apparatus as in claim 1 inwhich said motor is a hydraulic motor.
 4. An underwater cleaningapparatus as in claim 1 in which said motor is a pneumatic motor.
 5. Anunderwater cleaning apparatus as in claim 1 in which the said motordrives a gear box, at one end of which is mounted said propeller, an atthe other end is the said brush, thus allowing the propeller and thebrush to run at different revolutions per minute
 6. An underwatercleaning apparatus as in claim 1 in which said apparatus is supported bya handle which allows operation from above water and movement of theapparatus to various positions on the surface to be cleaned.
 7. Anunderwater cleaning apparatus as in claim 1 in which said brush may beabrasive for optimum cleaning of the said surface.
 8. An underwatercleaning apparatus as in claim 1 in which the operator has available acontrol unit which signals to the motor what speed and power are to beused.
 9. An underwater cleaning apparatus as in claim 8 in which thesaid control unit uses a wire connect link between the operator and themotor speed control unit.
 10. An underwater cleaning apparatus as inclaim 8 in which the said control unit uses a radio frequency linkbetween operator and the said motor control unit.
 11. An underwatercleaning apparatus as in claim 1 in which the said brush reciprocatesrather than rotates.
 12. An underwater cleaning apparatus as in claim 2in which the said electric motor is operated from a battery mounted onthe said motor.